Hope and a Tear
by Sakura Blossoms Falling
Summary: Sanzo's group stays overnight in a town and Hakkai meets an interesting character and finds that maybe the world is bigger than they thought. One-shot. NOT romance!


**Another One-shot. For those who like longer stories, I apologize, but my attention cannot be held long enough to finish a long story.**

***Don't own Saiyuki, if I did, then Sanzo would get his ass kicked by a girl.**

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><p>"Aaahhh! I'm hungry! Sanzo, are we there yet?" Goku whined for the 10th time in 30 minutes. The entire party was tired and hot and had no energy. Even Gojyo didn't have enough energy to start a fight with him.<p>

"Ah, there seems to be a town up ahead." Hakkai tiredly pointed out. "Let's stop there." He got no response from Goku who had apparently passed out from hunger. Sanzo just waved his fan faster and grunted.

The group rode into town and found an inn to rest at. The group were shown to their rooms and gratefully crashed. They slept through the rest of the day and finally woke up again in the afternoon.

They went down to eat in the small inn restaurant, much to the delight of Goku and Gojyo. They ordered a feast and Goku and Gojyo tore into it with loud, crude smacking and chomping. Sanzo looked at the two disgust and Hakkai just smiled and chuckled quietly as he fed hakuryuu.

"Oi, can you possibly eat quieter? You're disturbing the other guests." An annoyed voice interrupted the pair's loud smacking. Four pairs of eyes looked over to see a young woman with long black hair pulled back into a ponytail and she was wearing a worker's uniform. Goku and Gojyo shuddered at the glare she was sending them.

"I apologize for my rude companions." Hakkai apologized. Hakuryuu raised its head from the egg roll it was eating and cooed at the girl.

The girl's eyes widen and the glare was replaced with comical hearts. "A dragon!" She squealed and grabbed the small, white dragon in her arms and hugged it. "Ohmygosh! I can't believe that it's a _read_dragon!" The girl spun around and slipped away with Hakuryuu held captive in her arms.

The group all sweat dropped simultaneously. Hakkai sighed and looked worriedly after his companion and stood up. "I'll be right back." He headed off after the weird girl.

"You're so adorable!" Hakkai found the girl sitting on a stack of logs behind the inn, cuddling Hakuryuu. She had a wistful smile on her face as she looked at the small dragon.

"Hello," Hakkai said as he approached. The girl looked up and smiled at him.

"Sorry, I took him. He's just so cute!" She squealed again and hugged him. Hakkai noticed that Hakuryuu wasn't trying to get away either, in fact, he seemed to be enjoying the attention. He sat down next to her on a log and watched her cuddle his friend.

"Sorry," she said. Hakkai was confused, "For what?" He asked.

"For taking him without permission." The girl kissed the tip of Hakuryuu's nose and then held him out to Hakkai. He took his friend and settled him on his shoulder and stood up.

"Are you a worker here?" He asked as she stood up as well.

She stretched her arms above her head and yawned. "Yeah, by the way, what's you name?" She lowered her arms and shook them out. Together they began to walk back to the inn.

"Cho Hakkai," Hakkai said. "What's yours?"

The girl looked up at sky and bit her lip in thought. "Hmm, honestly, I forgot, but…here I'm called Lisa." She grinned at him.

Hakkai was curious at her answer, but decided to not pry. "Oh, good to meet you," was what he said.

They entered the inn again and were met by an extremely angry woman. "Lisa!" She pounced on the young woman. "You ran off on your shift! Again!" Lisa looked at Hakkai and rolled her eyes. "Don't roll you eyes at me, girl!" The woman yelled at her. "Get back to work! If you do it again, you're fired!" Lisa sighed and patted Hakuryuu's nose with her finger before walking into the back of the restaurant.

Hakkai noticed Hakuryuu was looking after the girl and he cooed sadly. Hakkai rubbed his head and asked, "You like her, Hakuryuu?" The small, white dragon nodded it head and cooed after his new friend again. Hakkai went back to their table just in time to see Sanzo whip out his gun and threaten the two food-obsessed idiots. A loud bang made the ladies in the room scream in fright as Sanzo shot over the heads of his annoying companions. Hakkai just strained a smile and sighed.

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><p>The four boys were in Sanzo's room doing their various activities. Sanzo was reading a newspaper and had taken off the top half of his yellow monk's robe; Goku and Gojyo were lying on the ground playing cards with Hakkai.<p>

Gojyo threw down his hand and shouted, "I won! Hah, take _that_Hakkai!" Goku pouted and shuffled the cards again. Hakkai just smiled at Gojyo and said, "I'll win the next hand."

CRASH! The window was smashed to pieces as a gang of demons came through it.

"Die, Sanzo Ikkou!" One shouted. Another yelled out, "We'll kill you and take the Maten Scripture!"

The four jumped up and Sanzo shot three of them. Goku grinned and yelled excitedly, "I was getting bored!" He called his staff, Nyoi-bo, and attacked.

The fighting spilled over into the street and the last rays of the dying sun illuminated them. Sanzo and the rest made quick work of the demons and the townspeople cheered.

"Mwahaha! Sanzo! Handover your Scripture or this girl dies!" every head turned up to the top of the inn where a demon held a young girl hostage.

Gojyo sighed and Sanzo just looked bored. "Sanzo! What do we do?" Goku asked. Sanzo gave a humph and turned away.

"Are you ignoring me?" The demon screeched. "Fine, then. I'll kill this human!" He raised his knife and the onlookers gasped in horror. The demon plunged the knife down towards his hostage, raising a collective scream from the girl and the townspeople.

Hakkai felt a rush of wind as a streak flew by him and up onto the roof. The streak turned into a person as it blocked the demon's knife and stuck him in the chest with a spinning kick, making him fly into the air.

Hakkai stared in surprise when he saw that the person was Lisa. She jumped after the demon into the air and with a swift diagonal slash, killed the demon. She did a back flip in the air and landed on her feet next to the girl. A loud cheer rose from the townspeople as she picked the girl up and jumped. She landed lightly on her feet and set the girl down. Immediately, she was smothered by her parents checking to make sure their baby girl wasn't injured.

When the couple turned to thank Lisa, she was gone.

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><p>Hakuryuu cooed quietly as he settled down on Hakkai's bed. He wrapped his tail around his small body and fell asleep. Hakkai lay down next to him and thought about Lisa. No one else had stepped up to save the girl and yet she had. He closed his eyes, but opened them again when he heard a light tapping on his window.<p>

He sat up and looked at the window. He saw a smiling Lisa on the other side. He got up and opened the window. She hopped over the sill and smiled at him. "Hiya, Hakkai." She went over to the bed where hakuryuu was sleeping and knelt down next to him and looked at his sleeping form.

"May I ask what you are doing here?" Hakkai asked politely.

"Hmm, I guess I came 'cause you interest me." Lisa said without raising her head.

"What do you mean?"

Now, Lisa turned her head to give him a sad look. "If I told you, would you believe me?" Hakkai looked into her eyes and saw a deep sadness and loneliness in them. He nodded.

"Well, I'm not from here. This world," she waved a hand lazily around in the air. Hakkai kept silent and waited for her to go on. "I come from a different world. In my world there are no demons and it's in the future. I've been here for a year; since I was 14." Glistening tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, but her voice was steady when she spoke. "You, you remind me of a friend in my world. I could see the similarity immediately." She looked back at Hakuryuu. Hakkai didn't know what to say. Before he could think of anything, she started talking again.

"You guys have to finish your journey." she said. "It's your destiny," suddenly she got to her feet and walked back to the window. As she passed him, she patted his shoulder and whispered softly, "Don't look back, 'kay?" She jumped out of the window and landed on the roof outside. She turned and before closing the windows asked, "Could you tell Hakuryuu that I said hi?" And then with a click she was swallowed by the dark night again.

Hakkai stared at the window in thought, turning over everything she had told him. He sighed, walked back to his bed and lay down again. _Could it be true?_ He thought. _Can there really be other worlds other than this one?_ It wasn't for another hour that he fell asleep.

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><p>In the morning the group had a big and violent breakfast before they set out. As Sanzo, Goku and Gojyo got into the jeep, Hakkai looked over his shoulder and saw that Lisa was standing on the roof of the inn, watching. He waved and she lifted a hand in farewell.<p>

"Hakkai! Get in!" Sanzo growled. Hakkai smiled and climbed into the car.

"Alright, we're off." They began to drive away and as Lisa said, he didn't look back.

Lisa watched the four until they were out of sight. _Good luck, guys_. She then turned and looked over the land from her position on top of the inn. She smiled at the peaceful scene and a single tear ran its way down her cheek.

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><p><strong>Done! I know I said I wouldn't publish anything else, but I had to and my report card comes in two weeks so I'm safe...for now.<strong>

**Ja ne!**


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